Television systems often include a so called on-screen display (OSD) arrangement for displaying alpha-numeric and other characters and graphics in order to indicate status and instruction information. In a television receiver, the OSD arrangement may be used to indicate the selected channel, the time of day and information such as the volume, brightness and contrast levels. Typically, for this type of information, the characters and graphics are displayed within within the image produced in response to to the normal video signal. Usually, the video information at the location of ("behind") the characters or graphics is suppressed ("blanked") so as to more clearly distinguish the characters or graphics from the viceo image and therefore more visible. This is usually accomplished by causing the video signal to assume a blanking level beyond the image black level during the times when the characters and graphics are to be displayed. However, in some television systems setting the character blanking level too high has been found to cause the proper operation of the television systems to be disturbed.